The other day, I mentioned that in the matter of a few months, my family lost 3 men that played key roles in my life. One of them was my father figure, Coach Dan Armstrong. Those of you that follow me, you know that I talk about him frequently. My daughter and I were just talking about him recently. How much I miss him. How much I miss the conversations. How much I miss the stories. Whenever we talked, he seemed to always get a life lesson in there somewhere. And somehow I always left the conversation feeling better about myself. It was an amazing gift God had given him the ability to do. And, there was a reoccurring theme that he preached: There are 2 teams in this world. God’s team. And Satan’s team. And he was spot on.
We’re living in a very real crisis. I’m not talking about the virus, nor any political, social, or economic issue. I’m talking about our internal identities. As we grow we ask ourselves several questions. Who am I? What is my place in life? Where do I belong? Who are my people? How do I fit in? Which team do I identify with? Which captain am I going to follow? Very powerful questions.
And even more powerful is the answer to each. No matter where we are in life, we belong to God. Our lives are to be spent according to His purpose for us. Our sense of identity derives from Him. When God is placed at the center of our lives, the crisis finds resolution. We put all the worldly noise behind us. We play on the right team, under the leadership of the right captain. Jesus! Yes we’ll stumble. Yes we’ll fall. No player, or team, goes undefeated forever. But even so, we’ll win the ultimate victory. And as we work towards that victory, think of the people we can bring onto our team. And that is where your identity should be. There is no confusion. There is no question. We are made in his image. Male. Female. Black. White. Left. Right. Doesn’t matter. God’s image. And that might be the most powerful point of today’s devotion. So on this Thanksgiving day, be thankful knowing that your identity is in Christ. There’s no confusion.
